Genesis 1:29-31

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Genesis 1:29 tn The text uses הִנֵּה (hinneh), often archaically translated “behold.” It is often used to express the dramatic present, the immediacy of an event—“Look, this is what I am doing!”
2. Genesis 1:29 sn G. J. Wenham (Genesis [WBC], 1:34) points out that there is nothing in the passage that prohibits the man and the woman from eating meat. He suggests that eating meat came after the fall. Gen 9:3 may then ratify the postfall practice of eating meat rather than inaugurate the practice, as is often understood.
3. Genesis 1:30 tn The phrase נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה (nefesh khayyah, “living breath”) usually refers to a “living creature” but is used slightly differently in this context. The term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) refers to breath or the throat and by extension to breathing creatures or the soul. The phrase “breath of life” uses a different noun for “breath” and the noun for “life” instead of the adjective.
4. Genesis 1:30 tn The phrase “I give” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied in the translation for clarification.
5. Genesis 1:31 tn The Hebrew text again uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) for the sake of vividness. It is a particle that goes with the gesture of pointing, calling attention to something.